Just Pong is finally being removed from iTunes App Store

[Millerszone]

Well, I finally received one of those nasty letters from Apple yesterday...
"We received a notice from Atari, Inc. that Atari, Inc. believes your applications named "Just Pong"
and "Just Pong SD" infringe Atari, Inc.'s intellectual property rights. In particular, Atari, Inc. believes
you are infringing their trademark and copyright."

I knew the day was going to come, just thought is was going to come a lot sooner.
Just Pong had over 200,000 downloads, most were free, but did make good money, not far behind
my other game Hit the Deck Baseball. I never planned on making money with Just Pong. It was
basically my first game ever and wanted to see how the iTunes app store process worked.

It's just sad that Atari has to send out these letters to independent developers for a 40 year old
game.

Well they didnt get Classic Pong yet, its available on webOS, had to rename because Just Pong was
already taken on webOS. It is doing good with over 30,000 downloads, again most are free.

[Slydog]

Well congrats on the success you did achieve!

Since game play can't be patented, Atari's only legal stance could be on the use of the name 'Pong' in your title.
If you changed the game's name, removing all reference to 'Pong', then you should be in the clear.
I think 'Ping' would be too close too

You are using their success and public recognition of 'Pong' for your own advantage, that's the issue I think.
Hence the reference to a Trademark infringement.
But I'm no lawyer.

[Ian Price]

+1 to the above.

I'd be cheeky though and use something like "Ponk"

[Ruidesco]

+1 to the above^2.
In this case it is somewhat understandable, pong is not a word in standard English and as such works per se as a trademark.
Also: Just Pon'

[erico]

oh well, at least you can keep selling it with different name, could also take the chance to upgrade a few things.
I would go for JUST PHONG

[Ian Price]

pong is not a word in standard English

Actually, pong IS a traditional English word. It means to give off an unpleasant smell. - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pong

[Ruidesco]

Oh dear... what a wonderful word to fight over.
I stand corrected.

PS. Atari pongs.

[Millerszone]

The name Just Pong infringes the Pong trademark name, but I also infringed with the copyrights.
This from Atari...
"Atari's copyrights for PONG protect what can be described as the "look and feel" of the PONG game.  This includes the sounds, graphics, fonts, colors, gameplay, user interface, etc.  It also protects the arrangement and coordination of these elements.  As seen in the attached screenshots, the font and size of the score, the black background, dotted line field divider, white square ball, and white rectangular paddles are all substantially similar to Atari's PONG.  Additionally, the combination of all these elements, as embodied in "Just Pong" and "Just Pong SD," copies the coordination, selection and arrangement of Atari's PONG elements.  For these reasons, we also included a copyright claim in our notice."

Actually my game has a top and bottom border and plays better with more options.
I guess I really took it overboard when I added original pong sounds as option.

I searched the iTunes store, there are over 300 Pong type games currently available.

[Ian Price]

Looks like they've got you by the short and curlies

Oh well, at least they haven't asked for a share of the revenue.

[matchy]

I could care less about originality, my goal is to make money. Over 60,000 downloads. 
Hit the Deck Baseball not there yet.

http://appadvice.com/appguides/show/pong-for-ipad

I'm always open for moral discussion.

[Millerszone]

I could care less about originality, my goal is to make money. Over 60,000 downloads. 
Hit the Deck Baseball not there yet.

http://appadvice.com/appguides/show/pong-for-ipad

I'm always open for moral discussion.

No suprise here, I was waiting for a Matchy post. I'm sure he couldn't wait for this day to happen.
Yes! I could still care less about originality, as long as I can make money on an app.
Joust clone here I come.

My plan is to convert Just Pong into a table top tennis game with ads of my other games and put it as free. Should take a hour or two to convert.

[erico]

great Mike! Joust is a way to go!
make sure you get some , at least, single machine multiple players into that if you finally thing desktop is ok.

yep I have to agree, money is my target too, I just have to extend my area of work out of what I currently do now.
If money won´t come up, then I will just have to make do, gasp.

on the joust idea, check a gameboy advance game called fire emblem, it´s an old franchise of strategy game, turn based, but take a look at the flying guys animations and gfx, that , for me is a way to go.

I´m a great fan of a coco 2 joust clone by the name of pegasus and the phantom riders,
If I´m to make a joust clone(i wish), it would go a mix of them.

time is horribly gone as this is the time publicity drinks on me,
I will try to convert one of my old amos games later.
It really sucks to buy a premium glbasic and no time to code...

keep up.

[Ian Price]

How long do you think this will last on the AppStore? - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/donkey-kong-2/id465648822?mt=8

I can't believe that it was accepted in the first place.

[ampos]

Since Adobe released the "flash compiler for iOS" and Apple aprove it, we are going to see a TON of new apps for iOS.